The International Ice Hockey Federation is operating on the assumption that NHL players will take part in the 2014 Sochi Olympics."We've prepared everything with the idea that NHL players will be there," IIHF President Rene Fasel said Friday. "We've decided about the format and expect them to be there."Fasel was re-elected to another four-year term as president at the IIHF's general congress in Tokyo.

"Once the CBA is ratified and there has been some cooling-down period, we will sit together with the IOC, the NHL and NHLPA to find solutions how to make sure that Sochi 2014 becomes the fifth consecutive best-on-best Olympic event," said Fasel. "As I have always pointed (out) whenever asked questions about NHL players' participation, our doors are always open and I am confident that we will find ways -- like we did in Nagano, Salt Lake City, Turin and Vancouver -- to stage this event on the biggest sporting stage there is."

I'm kind of on the fence on this one, it helps expose the game i guess although I'm sure the increased ratings are just due to the worldwide broadcasts that the Olympics provide...I don't know if I am sold on the idea that there are that many people who just up and start following the NHL after the Olympics if they hadn't been previously...Also I think there is a small possibility that giving exposure to young American college kids could cause a few people to follow their careers all the way up through the ranks if they make a name for themselves for the tournament. This could lead to a growth in interest in NCAA hockey which would be a boon for the larger schools such as Penn State (among others) who are contemplating adding a D1 program...if all of this came to fruition it could certainly raise the NHL's profile among the casual American sports fan who now may be paying attention to their favorite college's newborn hockey programs and it's players careers through the ranks.

The Miracle on Ice and the international success that American teams have had since (something they haven't had before) are more responsible for the growth of HRR in the NHL than expansion, or the drastic rise in prices of anything NHL or anything else Bettman has done.
In 1980 (the year of the Miracle on Ice) the NHL didn't even have a handful of Americans playing in it. By the time Bettman became commissioner there was almost a hundred.

A watertight agreement exists with the National Hockey League that will free its players for the Sochi Games, says KHL board member, Valery Kamensky.

“We have the Olympics in Sochi next year. It’s the main event,” Kamensky told Sportbox.ru “We all must prepare for it. Everything must be done for our national team to succeed there and take gold medals.”

“By the way, it’s very good that there’s already an agreement that the NHL players will take part in the Olympics. It’s 100 per cent certain decision. Hockey in Sochi will be very interesting,” he added.

Before you label this as a "consider the source" story, there has been corroboration; I first heard about this from Bob McKenzie on TSN. He said that formal discussions still have to be held, with the League trying to squeeze for money to offset the money they won't be making during that sixteen-day period.

The four sides involved in getting NHL players to the 2014 Winter Olympics are set to meet in New York to try to thrash out a deal.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, NHL Players Association head Donald Fehr, International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel and a representative of the International Olympic Committee are to meet Thursday and Friday, mainly about NHL participation in the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.

All four sides agree they want NHL players there, but there are key issues to resolve before a deal is done. No one has set a deadline, so there should still be time to reach an agreement even if it doesn't happen this week.

It could be a lively encounter, as Fasel set the tone in an interview with the CBC in Sochi on Saturday that came across as dismissive of Bettman and the NHL's concerns.

He said the only thing that could prevent NHL participation is "ego from some people in North America" and that "I think Gary has no other choice. He has to come to Sochi."

The NHL says there is more work to do before NHL players return to the Olympics.

NHL officials met Friday with representatives from the International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation.

"We had a good working session and were able to discuss all of the issues involved in the possibility of having NHL players participate in the 2014 Sochi Games," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement.

"The parties are committed to continuing to work through the process, but there remains work to be done on all sides."

...

Note that this happened last Friday, 12/04/2013.

Does the possibility of the "Mega Winter Classic Marathon" alter the dynamics of this now?

What do you guys mean you don't know if playing in the Olympics creates new NHL fans?? People here in the US watch that s*** not because they are hockey fans but because they support their USA team. When they hear team USA hockey is in the semi finals they want to watch even if they had no prior interest in hockey. I know kids that walked away hockey fans after that USA and Canada game. What a great thing for our sport. It has to be by FAR the biggest draw and exposure to our sport to none hockey fans ever. People that never watch hockey see that game because of the fact they simply want to watch USA or everyone is talking so much about it and realize wow, this is a very intense amazing sport, why don't I watch this?? Do the math.

I don't give a s*** that the MLB doesn't attend the Olympics. The Olympics is the best hockey I have ever seen. I would much rather watch that than the NHL playoffs. What a shame it would be for us to never get the chance to see the best hockey players in the world play together on a few stacked teams. I will be absolutely livid, the lockout didn't upset me that much, but this will. If they were going to cancel I want a 4 year notice. Because I been waiting for 2014 for over 3 years now. I will not watch the rest of the season and I will post hate about their decision every chance I get for this whole duration. Although I will be back for playoffs, but I will execute up to that point and take my stand as best I can as an individual.

The NHL can go off a cliff, players - including superstars - already stated they are going to participate. Like Ovechkin said what are they going to do, if he is going? Yeah cry a river and become even more stupid then they already are, big deal.

You can not compare the MLB and NHL worldwide, there is only one continent where Baseball is big and I mean really big = USA, so it just isn't a good olympic sport.

Hockey on the other side has many stars from a lot of hockeycrazy countries (Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, USA, Russia, Finland) I for one will be very happy to finally see some stacked teams again, since the NHL has become a joke and it is almost impossible to ice stacked teams.

The Offseason of truth ...

Welcome to hockeytown Jonas aka Lundquist 2 Gustavsson!

blank cheque for The Captain or Jim Star Nil please..

<< Win it for Mr. Hockey ! f*** this league THANK YOU BABS FOR 10 MARVELLOUS YEARS

1. bettman is the owners stooge. he does what THEY want. Period. same is true in every league.

2. The easy solution is, cancel the pre-season, and take the 2 week break-cancel the AS game and break as well-no one really cares.

3. if the NHL players are not allowed to play, this summer may become very interesting. many Euros may decide to stay home and not play for the NHL next season, so they can play in the WO. The KHL pays well enough that star players may do it.

4. I mentioned before the creation of a Hockey Super league. This could happen out of this type of disagreement.

5. One other poster brought up a thought. This could be a means of fixing the transfer agreement with Russia. After all, where are the games played this winter?

What Uncle Gary is trying not to say (not too many time publicly, at least) is that there is no money to be made for the League in shutting down for two weeks and allowing the players to be part of the Olympics. There is way more money to be made having umpteen outdoor games.